


Heartsong

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-13
Updated: 2016-10-13
Packaged: 2018-08-22 07:23:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8277583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Louisa follows a song to find Lisa. Takes place during the rescue Lisa quests.





	

Starshine’s story about Lisa had moved Louisa more than she’d expected it to. She felt unexpected rage at whoever had attacked the two, and a burning desire to find the girl. As she rode out of the forest, though, a new thing joined the rage burning her skin.

“Can you hear that?” Louisa asked, stopping Smokeeye out on the cliff. It sounded like music. Like a choir.

“No,” her Andalusian replied. “At least, not with my ears.”

“What is it?” asked Louisa.

“I don’t know, I’m just a horse,” said Smokeeye. “You’d be better off asking Starshine when we find him, or maybe Linda would know.”

“Hmm,” Louisa hummed thoughtfully. She shrugged and then continued along the cliff’s edge, finding that the song was quieter in places but louder the closer she got to the forest.

“Maybe you should follow the song,” Smokeeye suggested.

“She used to be in a band so maybe she left like a music trail for us to follow,” said Louisa. But if that was the case, then why hadn’t Starshine heard it? She decided to ask him when she found him.

The song became louder and louder as they continued along the path through Greendale. Louisa liked to follow the paths around Jorvik, so she stayed on the path that led up to the upper Goldspur mill and around it. It was getting louder and louder, blocking out even the sounds of the birds and the wind through the trees.

But one thing broke through the song.

“Have you found her yet?” asked Starshine, flicking his tail anxiously.

“No, but can you hear the music?” asked Louisa. Or maybe it was more like a feeling.

“I… yes, I have heard something during my search,” said Starshine. “But there are legends about fairies in that forest so I just assumed that it was their music.”

“Can you still hear it now?” asked Louisa. They were near some large rocks, the forest some way behind them. Starshine closed his eyes and pricked his ears to listen. Then, he opened his eyes with a whinny of excitement.

“Yes, it’s louder now! Maybe we’re on the right track!” he cried, and rose into a rear. Louisa giggled.

“You don’t need to yell,” said Louisa.

“Oh, sorry, I’ve just never heard the song so loud before,” said Starshine, settling down again.

“We’ll do a little more searching, it feels like we’re close,” said Louisa. “I’ll call you if I find anything.”

“I’ll stay closeby,” said Starshine. They split up again, Louisa going along the road while Starshine headed off into the surrounding landscape.

The song was definitely getting louder now as Louisa rode along the path, but then it suddenly got quieter at one point. She moved backwards and forwards a few times, until Smokeeye snorted.

“We can go off the road, you know,” said Smokeeye. 

“But what if we get lost?” Louisa worried.

“Then call for pickup, you silly goose,” said Smokeeye. Louisa blushed at her horse’s teasing, but then moved around a little to see where the song got louder again. Stepping off the path did feel a little frightening, but the song was definitely louder here.

“Follow the song,” Louisa murmured to herself. She found, to her delight, that there was a little-used path here. It reminded her of the cattle paths that she’d seen on farms, though the hoofprints she saw had been made by horseshoes. She continued following the song until it suddenly changed its tune. It became more sombre.

“There’s something behind these branches,” said Smokeeye, nudging aside one of the branches in the pile. Louisa dismounted and rummaged through the branches, moving them aside until she, too, could see what was on the rock. It smelled like burnt things, and the song suddenly cut off.

“Oh no,” Louisa whispered. Then, she took a deep breath and called for Starshine.

The white horse came running, galloping along the path until he came to an abrupt halt beside Louisa.

“I remember something now,” said Starshine, ears pinning back at the sight of the silhouette burned into the rock. “We were out riding, and there was this flash…” He looked down at the ground, and Louisa heard the song slowly return.

“The song went quiet but it’s back now,” said Louisa.

“And there are a lot of hoofprints going up over there,” said Starshine, gesturing with his head towards a little path leading further into the mountains. “I don’t know if I can handle what we’ll find. I’ll stay here, you… you go and find what’s there.” He trembled, and Louisa gave him a comforting pat on the neck before mounting Smokeeye and riding along the path.

Louisa followed the song, though she, too, trembled at the thought of what she might find. What if Starshine was right and she was going to find a dead body? But it didn’t smell like anything other than ash up here. If there was a body to find…

“There,” said Smokeeye, gesturing towards a large pile of branches. Louisa dismounted quickly and ran to the pile, hurling aside the branches while being glad that they were only small. They must have been put there by another person, one with as much strength as she had (which wasn’t much).

A pink crack was revealed, and the song rose into a crescendo. Louisa could barely hear herself calling for Starshine over the noise, but finally he was there too. And somehow, despite the loudness of the song, Louisa could hear every word of the conversation that took place between the horse standing over the crack and the girl trapped in that other dimension.


End file.
